Making a Murderer – The CLE – A Conversation with Dean Strang

Presenter:

Clay Travis

Credit Available In:

In 2015, Netflix aired a miniseries entitled “Making a Murderer,” which chronicled the long, controversial tale of Steven Avery. Avery was wrongfully convicted of rape and spent 18 years in prison. After he was finally exonerated, he was released from prison in 2003, and he filed a civil suit in federal court against the county and District Attorney in 2004. While this suit was pending, a woman named Teresa Halbach disappeared. Steven Avery was eventually charged and convicted of her murder.

Avery’s murder trial was full of complicated legal issues. There were evidentiary questions—a key that was not found until the police searched a room for the third time, DNA testing that may have been compromised. There were serious questions about the purported confession of Avery’s nephew. There were differing and sometimes contradictory theories advanced by the prosecutor in two separate trials. There was extensive local media coverage at the time of the case, and a more-than-usual amount of lawyer participation in trial coverage. In this CLE, Clay Travis had the opportunity to interview Dean Strang, one of Avery’s lawyers, about this case and dive into both the legal and ethical minefield it presented.

This CLE will use Dean Strang’s experience with the Steven Avery case to explore topics related to ethical considerations involved in dealing with media, ethical considerations regarding dealing with the opposing party, best practices for handling high intensity cases, and important legal issues for criminal law attorneys to consider in all cases.

Tennessee lawyers: This course is approved for dual credit.

This course has been approved for Ethics Credit in Alabama, Georgia, and 1.5 hours in Florida.

Missouri lawyers: Outkick CLE classes are considered “self study” and are subject to a 6 hour cap per year. Self study classes cannot be carried over to the next year and may not be used to satisfy the professionalism, ethics or malpractice prevention education requirements of Rule 15.

Ohio lawyers: This course is approved for 1 hour of professional conduct.